This story is about how scientific progress sometimes isn't very progressive. Many advances were accidents or found as by-products of trying to do something else, so I think that the reverse is also true. Great minds may think alike, but dirty minds think dirty.
IN A UNIVERSITY LAB LATE ONE EVENING
"Huh. That wasn't what I expected."
Dr. Cynthia Brown frowned as the light blue shaded liquid bubbled slightly and then stopped. She and her student assistant Peter had been running some more tests on a very promising new development but the last test had produced, well, nothing. Just an oddly blue tinted chemical that seemed to have the properties of soapy water.
"Very odd given what we had earlier Doctor." Peter said, and then yawned. "It's getting late. Do you want to take a break and hit this after you have some air?"
Dr. Brown sighed and nodded. "Yes, let's take a short break Peter. The Dean of the Chemistry Department, Dr. Sidney, and her student assistant are coming by later to discuss a continuation of our grant so clearing my head is a good idea."
The shapely Doctor gave a short stretch and Peter eyed her carefully. Dr. Cynthia Brown was not very old, she was "thirty something" on her face book profile, and she was actually very attractive. Reddish brown hair (always worn in a bun though), a nice figure, very much in shape (she ran 10 km races for fun), and overall what many men would consider a knockout with an near perfect hourglass figure. But her brains put many men off and what her brains didn't her nearly laser perfect focus on biochemistry did. She didn't seem too much care given she had been nominated twice for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but hadn't gotten it yet. But if this line of research paid off she certainly had one in the bag.
Peter was working his Master's in Chemistry. His focus was actually more industrial, he was into making lighter alloys and more pressure and fire retardant compounds, but the chance to work with Dr. Brown was one no aspiring chemist would pass up. Dr. Brown had taken him on because of the different focus. "Sometimes you need someone to look at something from a completely different way to finally figure it out." She had said when she had signed him on.
But as Peter found out, she was demanding boss. He worked late every night and every weekend. And a lot of his tasks were menial. Some would say the Doctor was taking advantage of him and certainly some of the stuff was personal (errands, some shopping, picking up dry cleaning, etc.), but Peter knew that if he did a decent job she would give him a good recommendation and that was worth solid gold in the chemistry community.
Dr. Brown stood up and walked out of the lab looking over some notes as Peter began to police up the work area. He had finished cleaning everything excepting the beaker of the bluish fluid. Normally it was kept in a fridge and kept at near freezing temperature but they had worked with it today at room temperature. As they were going to keep at it, he wasn't sure if she wanted it to remain at room temp or if it needed to be chilled so he picked up the beaker in a gloved hand and headed out into the hallway.
As Peter quietly opened the door he noticed that his motion was causing the fluid to make some small soapy looking bubbles. He paused in the door to make a mental note of it when he heard Dr. Brown talking on her cell just outside the door.
"No, I haven't told him yet. I got caught up in the experiment and...Look Dean Jamison I fully understand how important this is to you, but I need a bit more time to tell him. Don't you take that tone with me! I'm doing you and your damn niece a favor by firing my assistant and taking her on instead so don't hold that bullshit over my head! If anyone found out I was doing this my reputation would take a big hit and that would be bad for the university. I don't care about what you think of men in general, I said I would take on your niece but I am still going to give him a good recommendation. He has done fine, even if he is a bit slow. I need an hour, and then come by. Yeah, thanks."
Peter gaped as he heard the Doctor walk off towards her office muttering under her breath about "bitchy deans" and he heard her door close.
"Fuck me! That bitch is going to fire me! The god damn iron panties bitch of a dean is having her worthless niece Natasha moved in at my expense!" Peter growled out.
Natasha Jamison was a first class bitch and in his Master's Program. She was the dean of the chemistry department's niece, and she lorded over everyone. Peter had stayed well clear of her after she had a guy thrown out on a very weak charge of sexual harassment. She had been drunk (she was partying every night usually), and had made a pass at a guy in front of witnesses. He had declined her, she had threatened him and he left. He had a complete alibi for the whole night, but still the school had found him guilty, kicked him out, and then had several other witnesses transfer shortly afterwards with rumor flying about what the dean had threatened them with.
And now he was losing his job to her.
Peter had always had a slight temper and sometimes it would seize him for just a second. It did right then and in a fit of rage he threw the beaker against the lab door as hard as he could. It of course shattered and the blue fluid oozed down the door.
Peter blinked and then cursed himself. He quickly pulled out some paper towels and began to mop it up. He went and got a large Petri dish and put his towels in them and soon had most everything mopped up and in a gooey pile on the dish. He picked it up and with an air of defeat dropped in on the table back in the lab.
"Well, at least Dr. Brown won't have any Nobel Prizes with that bitch working with her. Too bad, this would have been an amazing breakthrough if it had worked." Peter mused.
The chemical was a biological chemical. It utilized various brain fluids and with proper treatment could be created naturally. Initial tests had shown that it actually could in certain cases boost intelligence. It was hard to replicate and results had been random as hell, but if they could make a couple of adjustments this chemical had the potential to cure several major diseases including Down's syndrome.
Peter sat there feeling sorry for him-self and picked up a length of wire sitting on the bench that they used for a stirring rod. It was about as big around as a coat hanger and Peter bent it into a loop.
"May as well have one more experiment before I get the ax. Let's see if this stuff makes bubbles." Peter said with a sigh as he dipped it into the goo and swished it. He pulled it out and turned to the door and blew a stream of soft ball sized bubbles.
Right into Dr. Cynthia Brown's face.
Peter just had enough time to go "Oh shit!" and the Doctor had just enough time to look up from her notes and go "Oh!"
POP! POP! POP!
